Fall/Winter

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1 AP/EN A Couse Director: Delivery Format: Fall/Winter African American Literature Vermonja Alston Seminar Time: T 2:30-5:30 Description: Short Description The course provides an introduction to African American literary movements and traditions from its origins to contemporary twenty-first century literature. Long Description The diverse literary and artistic expressions of the myriad people of African descent in the United States is a central feature of the American literary tradition. This course explores the origins of African American literature in vernacular (oral) traditions of spirituals, secular rhymes and songs, ballads, work songs, the blues, and folktales, and their contributions to scribal (written) traditions of the literature of slavery and freedom, including life-writing (slave narratives, autobiography, and memoir), sermons, speeches, letters, and treatises, as well as continuities and discontinuities in later vernacular traditions of spoken word and hip hop. The course explores the literature of the postslavery reconstruction era ( ), the flourishing of fiction, drama and poetry during the New Negro or Harlem Renaissance era ( ), and their continued development of traditions of realism, naturalism, and modernism in the 1940s and 1950s. Students read the literature of the Black Arts era ( ) and its navigation of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements. The course concludes with an examination of contemporary African American literature, investigations of the double-bind of the politics of identity and authenticity, and its relationship to inclusions in, and exclusions from, canons and anthologies, as well as to the performance of blackness for art (and profit). Students may read the work of the following writers:

2 Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatley, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, David Walker, Martin R. Delany, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, James Weldon Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson, Alain Locke, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Sterling A. Brown, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Helene Johnson, Richard Wright, Chester B. Hines, Robert Hayden, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Etheridge Knight, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, June Jordan, Larry Neal, Toni Cade Bambara, Paule Marshall, Toni Morrison, Lucille Clifton, Octavia Butler, Rita Dove, Elizabeth Alexander, Barack Obama, Natasha Trethewey, Percival Everett, Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy, and Jay-Z. Category: Area: Period: Requirements: The course is taught in a 3-hour format that integrates lectures with class discussion and student oral presentations. Students are evaluated on the basis of supervised tests and quizzes, unsupervised takehome exams, essays, and research projects, and oral presentations and participation in class discussions. Informed participation and oral presentation 10% Short essay of 1000 words 10% Midterm test 15% Comparative essay (two texts) 20% Final research essay 25% Take-home final exam 20% Reading List: Everett, Percival Erasure. Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, Open To: Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, eds. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 3rd edition. Vols. 1 and 2. New York: WW Norton, Learning Objectives Basic familiarity with key texts and features of African American literary movements and traditions Basic facility with the analysis of literary genres (fiction and nonfiction prose, drama, poetry, and the literary essay) Proficiency in extemporaneous oral discussion and interpretation of African American literature Competence in written analysis of African American literature Basic ability to carry out research about African American literature

3 AP/EN A African American Literature Fall- Winter Class Meetings- - Vari Hall 1005, Tuesdays 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm Course Director: Dr. Vermonja R. Alston valston@yorku.ca x33848 Course Description The diverse literary and artistic expressions of the myriad people of African descent in the United States is a central feature of the American literary tradition. This course explores the origins of African American literature in vernacular (oral) traditions of spirituals, secular rhymes and songs, ballads, work songs, the blues, and folktales, and their contributions to scribal (written) traditions of the literature of slavery and freedom, including life- writing (slave narratives, autobiography, and memoir), sermons, speeches, letters, and treatises, as well as continuities and discontinuities in later vernacular traditions of spoken word and hip hop. The course explores the literature of the post- slavery reconstruction era ( ), the flourishing of fiction, drama and poetry during the New Negro or Harlem Renaissance era ( ), and their continued development of traditions of realism, naturalism, and modernism in the 1940s and 1950s. Students read the literature of the Black Arts era ( ) and its navigation of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements. The course concludes with an examination of contemporary African American literature, investigations of the double- bind of the politics of identity and authenticity, and its relationship to inclusions in, and exclusions from, canons and anthologies, as well as to the performance of blackness for art (and profit). Withdrawal Deadline: Please note that February 6, 2015 is the last date to drop a Fall- Winter term course without receiving a grade. Students who do not officially withdraw from a course by the withdrawal deadline will receive a grade, even if they have not attended or done course work. Additional information can be found online at Academic Honesty: Students will be assessed on the merit of their own individual work. Plagiarism ( representation of another person s writing or ideas as one s own according to the Senate policy on Academic Honesty), cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. The full text of this and other policies can be found online at Accommodation: Requests for Letters of Accommodation should be directed to Learning Disability Services (LDS). Students who are currently registered with LDS must provide a Letter of Accommodation before additional time for completion of assignments will be granted. New students who think they might need to access services should contact LDS at for an assessment.

4 Alston 2 Format The course is taught in a 3- hour format that integrates lectures with class discussion and student oral presentations. Online discussions may continue on the course s password protected Moodle site. Links to secondary sources, writing and study aids, audio/video resources, and recommended reading will be posted to the course Moodle. To access Moodle, please follow the instructions below: 1. Go to: 2. Log in with your Passport York username and password Evaluation Students are evaluated on the basis of tests and quizzes, essays, a peer- review workshop, research projects, oral presentations, and participation in class discussions. Late assignments will NOT be accepted absent prior agreement between the student and his or her professor. Oral presentation 5% Informed participation 10% Short essay of 1000 words 10% Midterm test 15% Comparative essay (two primary texts) 2000 words 20% Final research essay ~3000 words 25% Unannounced quizzes 10% Peer- review workshop 5% Required Texts Everett, Percival Erasure. Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, eds. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 3 rd edition. Vols. 1 and 2. New York: WW Norton, Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Ed. Nellie Y. McKay and Frances Smith Foster. New York: Norton Critical Editions, Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in In Academic Writing. New York: WW Norton, Recommended Text Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4 th edition. New York: Longman, 2000.

5 Alston 3 Learning Objectives Basic familiarity with key texts and features of African American literary movements and traditions Basic facility with the analysis of literary genres (the vernacular tradition, fiction and nonfiction prose, drama, poetry, sermons and speeches, and the literary essay) Proficiency in extemporaneous oral discussion and interpretation of African American literature Competence in written analysis of African American literature Basic ability to carry out research about African American literature Syllabus Readings: Students are expected to have completed the assigned readings prior to the class in which those readings will be discussed. Please bring The Norton Anthology of African American Literature and any additional assigned readings to all classes. With the exception of Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Percival Everett s Erasure, all page numbers refer to The Norton Anthology. Sept. 9 th Sept. 16 th Sept. 23 rd Sept 30 th Oct. 7 th Introduction to African American Literature and the Vernacular Tradition Henry Louis Gates and Valerie Smith, Introduction: Talking Books The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Volume 1 (xxxv- xlvii). The Vernacular Tradition, Part 1, The Norton v. 1 (3-73). The Literature of Slavery and Freedom, (75-87) Olaudah Equiano (112-37) Phillis Wheatley (137-50) S. Theresa, A Haytien Tale (151-60) David Walker (161-71) Sojourner Truth (176-80) Martin R. Delany ( ) Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Norton Critical Edition. Eds. Nellie Y. McKay, and Francis Smith Foster. New York: Norton, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Literary Criticism Jean Fagan Yellin, Written by Herself: Harriet Jacobs Slave Narrative. (203-9). Ann Taves, Spiritual Purity and Sexual Shame: Religious Themes in the Writings of Harriet Jacobs (209-22). Michelle Burnham, Loopholes of Resistance: Harriet Jacobs Slave Narrative and the Critique of Agency in Foucault (278-94).

6 Alston 4 Christina Accomando, The laws were laid down to me anew : Harriet Jacobs and the Reframing of Legal Fictions (365-85) Oct. 14 th Oct. 21 st Oct. 28 th Nov. 4 th Nov. 11 th Nov. 18 th Nov. 27 th Dec. 8 th Word Essay Due in the Moodle digital dropbox by 9:00 pm (10%) Read Victor Séjour, The Mulatto in the Norton Anthology of African American Literature ( ). Frederick Douglass ( ). Literature of the Reconstruction to the New Negro Renaissance, Introduction (505-20) Booker T. Washington (548-79). W. E. B. Du Bois ( ). James Weldon Johnson ( ). Paul Laurence Dunbar ( ). Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson ( ). Harlem (New Negro) Renaissance, Introduction (929-49) Alain Locke (967-81) Marcus Garvey (984-92) Harlem Renaissance (cont.) Claude McKay ( ) Zora Neale Hurston ( ) Sterling A. Brown ( ) Langston Hughes ( ) Countee Cullen ( ) Take- Home Midterm Test Due by 9:00 pm in the course Moodle digital dropbox (15%). Jan. 6 th Jan. 13 th Jan. 20 th The Vernacular Tradition, Part 2. (Gospel, Songs of Social Change, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Hip- Hop) The Norton v. 2 (3-55) Literary Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Richard Wright (119-56) Ann Petry (167-79) Robert Hayden (225-43) Gwendolyn Brooks (324-43)

7 Alston 5 Jan. 27 th Feb. 3 rd Feb. 10 th Feb. 17 th Feb. 24 th Mar. 3 rd Mar. 10 th Mar. 17 th Mar. 24 th Mar. 31 st Ralph Ellison ( ) James Baldwin ( ) Civil Rights and Racial Justice Martin Luther King, Jr. (69-78, ) Malcolm X (79-90, ) Barack Obama ( ) Drama Lorraine Hansberry ( ) Reading Week No Classes word Comparative Essay Due by 9:00 pm in the course Moodle digital dropbox (20%). The Black Arts Movement Era, Introduction (533-61) Etheridge Knight (612-17) Adrienne Kennedy (617-31) The Black Arts Movement Era (cont.) Audre Lorde (637-52) Amiri Baraka ( ) Sonia Sanchez (708-25) June Jordan (751-69) Larry Neal (773-98) Contemporary Literature Toni Morrison ( ) Lucille Clifton ( ) Rita Dove ( ) Elizabeth Alexander ( ) Natasha Trethewey ( ) Percival Everett, Erasure August Wilson ( ) Review Writing the first draft of the research essay Apr. 1 st 5 th Online peer- review workshop (5%) Apr. 7 th Study Day No classes Final Word Research Essay due by 9:00 pm in the course Moodle digital dropbox (25%).